Recap
Hunslet Hawks got back to winning ways with a convincing victory at home to Coventry Bears on Sunday afternoon winning by a 20 point margin, final score 38-18.
Hunslet kicked off and the opening minutes saw both sides looking dangerous with the ball. The 5th minute saw the Hawks come close to opening the scoring but a knock on on the Bears line gifted the ball to the visitors. Two penalties in a short space of time took Coventry down field and on the 7th minute prop forward Alex Beddows barged over under the posts for the opening try of the game, converted by Joel James for Hawks 0, Bears 6.
The home outfit hit back straight away, regaining the ball from the kick off for crisp handling to allow Ayden Faal to produce a nice offload to put Lee Mapals over out wide. Simon Brown converted to equalise the scores. On the 15th minute Hunslet took the lead when Simon Brown sent Jake Normington storming over, Brown again adding the extras for a 12-6 lead.
An injury to full back Jimmy Watson paved the way for a debut for Jack Coventry and soon after a Bears knock on gave the Hawks possession on their opponents line. A mesmerising dummy from hooker Jack Lee on 23 minutes was enough to take the no 9 over for Hunslet’s third try of the afternoon. Brown again adding the extras to take the score to 18-6.
It didn’t take long for Hunset, playing flowing attacking rugby league, to further extend the lead, Danny Ansell scoring in the next set. After making their way to the Coventry try line he produced great individual skill to scamper over the line.
And the onslaught didn’t stop there, some simple rugby poorly defended by the Bears taking loose forward Liam Mackay over just after the half hour mark. After being converted, that took the score to 30-6 to the South Leeds side. But – contrary to what the scoreline suggested – Coventry were not down and out, posting 6 points to make the score 30-12 at half time.
A less eventful second half followed, neither side looking like capitalising,with the score still at it’s half time equivalent three-quarters of the way through the match. The second half deadlock was finally broken when quick hands took Mufaru Mvududu over, taking the score to 36-12 at 65 minutes.
In the very next set, Coventry centre Matt Reid scored when Hunslet defence collapsed for a brief second, meaning Hunslet yet again had an 18 point lead. The last points of the game came a few minutes from time, Simon Brown kicking Hunslet into a 20 point lead, making the score 38-18 at full time.
After the game, coach Matt Bramald expressed his satisfaction with Hunslet’s coping with everything that was thrown at them by the opposition adding that it was as close as they have been all season to an 80 minute performance – a true reflection as they dominated from start to finish.
Man of the Match: Early tryscorer Lee Mapals had a faultless game, fitting effortlessly into the full back position in the first half to play a vital part in the Hawks win.
Hunslet RLFC Line up
1. Jimmy Watson
2. Lee Mapals
Sponsored by: Leeds Bacon Company Ltd
3. Ayden Faal
Sponsored by: Adrian Jinks
4. Mufaro Mvududu
5. Richie Barnett
Sponsored by: Iris Crummack from the GMB
6. Simon Brown
Sponsored by: Garden Gate Ultras
7. Danny Ansell
8. Matt Carbutt
9. Jack Lee
10. Lewis Reed
11. Daniel Williams
12. Jake Normington
13. Liam Mackay
14. George Flanagan
15. Austin Bell
16. Craig Robinson
Sponsored by: Alan Stephenson & Kenny Sykes
Timeline
00:10 Lee Mapals Try
00:10 Simon Brown Goal
00:15 Jake Normington Try
00:15 Simon Brown Goal
00:23 Jack Lee Try
00:23 Simon Brown Goal
00:26 Simon Brown Goal
00:26 Danny Ansell Try
00:30 Liam Mackay Try
00:30 Simon Brown Goal
01:05 Mufaro Mvududu Try
01:05 Simon Brown Goal
01:18 Simon Brown Goal